Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough believes his side gave their all in tonight's 2-0 Carabao Cup exit away at Premier league Everton.
With 6,000 away fans among an almost 50,000 crowd at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, it was a magnificent night out for the Stags, but they were undone by two high quality goals at either end of the second half by Charly Alcaraz and Beto.
“I don't think we could have done much more in the game,” said Clough.
“Everybody, subs included, did their jobs.
Action during the Carabao Cup second round tie, Everton v Mansfield Town FC at the brand-new Hill Dickinson Stadium, 27 August 2025 Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.mediaplaceholder image
Action during the Carabao Cup second round tie, Everton v Mansfield Town FC at the brand-new Hill Dickinson Stadium, 27 August 2025 Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media
“We frustrated them until half-time and it was just about getting through that first 10-15 minutes of the second half ideally
“But one bit of quality, curling one in from 25 yards, there's not much you can do about that.
“I thought we grew into the game in the first half.
“We had started okay but then gave the ball away cheaply. Everton then certainly got a foothold into the game but we grew into it and had some good situations at the end of the first half.
“It was always going to be difficult to get a goal tonight, but we kept them at bay for the majority of the evening and Liam Roberts has not had too much to do.
“They are going to have situations where they carve you open of course because of the gulf in quality, but generally I think we restricted them.”
Everton's side and bench contained some huge names and Clough said: “I wasn't surprised by the strength of their side when I saw the team sheet as I think David Moyes normally put those sort of teams out in this competition – and rightly so. And when he brings on subs they are not kids either. They were very experienced first team players.”
The game was delayed getting the crowd in which won't have helped Mansfield nerves.
“The 15 minute delay didn't help. You're ready for a 7.45 kick off and all of sudden at a very late stage you're told there is a 15 minute delay and it wasn't ideal,” said Clough.
“So we just had a nice little relax for five or 10 minutes and I thought we started the game like that as well. We kept the ball quite well.”
Stags rarely threatened the home goal and he added: “Louis Reed should have got a shot off early on when we had a situation on the edge of the box – youvknow you're not going to get that many.
“Will should have hit one and I thought we should have had a free kick with Will on the edge of the box late on in the half – only by the standards of what was given early on, I think there was one gave against Will after 10 seconds after he touched their lad with one or two fingers in the back.
“That was the standard set all night but not applied all the way through.”
The travelling fans certainly enjoyed it, making a huge noise and Clough said: “It was lovely to see the families in Liverpool who had come up for the day. They had come up to enjoy it. We don't know when or if we will come to this sort of arena again.
“So it is a great memory. I hate losing in any circumstances but there was not much more we could do.”
The biggest worry was an injury to Louis Reed ahead of Saturday's game at Lincoln City.
“Louis overstretched his groin and I would think he would be a doubt for Saturday,” said the manager.
“There might be a few pairs of fresh legs needed now on Saturday.
“It was good to get Ryan Sweeney on – that was always the plan and he will start at Lincoln on Saturday.
“It's a day off tomorrow and then a nice light session on Friday. At least next week we have a clear week ahead of the Wycombe game.”
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